a gift from the school

 

"how Friends School. . . "

two Carolina Friends School alums

recently used the same phrase

to describe themselves in their following

of an unusual path:

"how Friends School of me. . . "

one has created a persona of oracle

that works to constructively entertain her public,

and that pays her bills,

allowing her to follow whatever personal callings speak to her,

she reads the crowd, the body language, however truth manifests,

and uses her intrinsic interest and care 

for people and psychology and what moments can reveal

to create a unique path

that fits both who she is and what she needs,

I remember her as a middle school student, 

believing in reincarnation and imagining being a c.e.o. in business

as a good choice for this life,

just requiring more time and births

to get back to the source,

now meditation within Buddhist traditions calls to her,

another CFS grad has spent her two years

since graduating from Oberlin in Indonesia, 

where she was called to help

Rohingya refugees make their way forward,

despite how poorly they've been treated in their birth homes

and in the halfway country through which they hope to move,

to find themselves where who they are can be seen, appreciated, 

allowed and enabled to thrive,

both CFS alums looked at us

after opening themselves and their journeys in our visiting,

and casually attributed what they are doing

with their lives as adults

to values they chose to embody

from what they learned at CFS,

"how Friends School of me" is both an acknowledgement

of the source from which they learned

and of the resonance within them

as to who they are,

as to who they want to be,

it speaks of the calm joy they feel within

as to finding a path forward with their lives

that is basic and real to who they actually are,

and to how they credit CFS for helping them find

ways that help the world, and themselves,

be true to what is most right for them,

every life deserves to be seen, appreciated,

and held to the expectation

that each life can make a difference,

and a difference for the good.

by Henry H. Walker

August 10, ‘26